This chapter opens with a soliloquy by a young Latin boy named Lario. Lario tells Lario that the King of Spain is obsessed with a beautiful woman named Hetty, and Lario worries that this obsession will lead to more criticism of the King's methods of warfare, which have been criticized in the past. He says that Hetty is not a despicable person, but that she is a "respectable woman" who has led her troops to victory and earned the admiration of the soldiers. He adds that he does not think she is the type of woman to seduce the King with her beauty, as she is simply born into a woman's body